


A Bit of Advice

by laurus_nobilis



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-03
Updated: 2012-12-03
Packaged: 2017-11-20 05:31:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurus_nobilis/pseuds/laurus_nobilis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Madame Foster learned from the best.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bit of Advice

“Come here,” said Madame Foster, without any kind of explanation. “I have to show you one of the house's secrets.”

Frankie simply shrugged and followed her grandmother through the maze like halls, crossing her fingers so she wouldn't get lost again. She was already used to that kind of stuff. She hoped this was something more or less interesting, but when one worked in a place like that, it was hard to be surprised. The spot where they stopped confirmed her suspicions that it wouldn't be anything too out of the ordinary.

“Another secret door,” she said. “Oh. Great.”

“No, no. It's a lot more fun than that,” the old lady assured her, opening it wide. On the other side there was a large hall, that seemed to belong to a different building. “It's a portal to another dimension.”

It was impossible not to believe her. After all, it wasn't the strangest thing that Frankie had heard from her grandmother. She had only one question to ask.

“And how did we get one of those?”

“I imagined it,” she replied simply. “Come on, I want to introduce you to some acquaintances of mine.”

Again, they started walking through halls and more halls. On their way, they met imaginary friends of all kinds. They saw a small animal that jumped and changed its size, some kind of fairy who made bright spheres float around her, and a girl with curly hair who danced among flowers. Madame Foster greeted them all as if she had known them all her life.

“Don't tell me there's a Foster's Home in another dimension,” Frankie said, looking around with curiosity. Her grandmother laughed heartily.

“Actually, it's a little different,” she explained. “All these friends were imagined by the same person.”

“All of them? What an imagination...”

“Yes, don't you think?” the old lady told her. “You'll meet him soon. I'm sure he's expecting us.”

She had just said that when they reached a dining room where, indeed, a tall man with glasses and a friendly smile was waiting for them. He wore strange black robes, but Frankie supposed that fashion might be different in that dimension. Anyway, she was distracted looking at the other two beings in the room. One of them was a golden feline with huge wings, and the other one was even stranger: he looked like a guardian angel, but her expression reminded her suspiciously of Mr. Herriman.

“Welcome, Martha,” their host said. “You arrived just in time for tea. And you must be young Frances... but you prefer to be called Frankie, right?”

“Exactly,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Bah, I can never surprise you,” Madame Foster said, sitting down without any invitation. “I was supposed to introduce you two. Frankie, this is Clow Reed, an old friend of mine. And these two are Yue and Cerberus.”

“What do you mean, 'these two'?” asked Yue, now more similar to Mr. Herriman than ever. Cerberus looked pretty upset too, and raised his head proudly.

“We're Guardians,” he explained. Frankie thought it wasn't very clear anyway.

“But you're imaginary friends, aren't you?”

“In a way, they are,” Clow answered, smiling in spite of the deadly glare that they gave him. “But things are a little different in this dimension. Imagining them is not enough... As a matter of fact, it takes quite a lot of talent to create them. All modesty aside,” he added, but it wouldn't have been necessary: obviously modesty wasn't one of his strengths.

“They're gorgeous,” she said, approaching Cerberus. “You look so... _cuddly_.”

“Doesn't he?” Clow laughed. The Guardian didn't seem to like that idea at all.

“Is that the best word you can think of to describe me?” he asked them, flapping his wings a little.

“The truth is the truth, Cerberus,” said Madame Foster, and pointed at him with her cane. “You're very cuddly. And Yue's just like Mr. Herriman.”

“Of course I'm not!” he replied, with an expression that showed exactly the opposite.

“Well,” their host intervened, trying to be fair although his grin showed who did he agree with, “I'd say you do have several things in common...”

Yue frowned. Frankie couldn't hold back her laughter. Cerberus and Madame Foster didn't even try.

“Come on, don't make fun of him,” said Clow, as if he had nothing to do with it. “I'd better bring the tea.”

“Oooh, did you make bread and butter pudding?” the old lady asked, her eye shining with emotion. He winked at her.

“With whisky.”

The pudding turned out to be just as delicious as her grandmother's enthusiasm had shown. For a while, they just ate (Cerberus more than any of the others) and talked about unimportant things; but Frankie still had a few doubts.

“So, how did you meet?” she asked between two bites. “Crossing dimensions can't be usual.”

“I just imagined the portal and arrived here,” Madame Foster said, shrugging. “I didn't really know where I'd turn out. I did it out of curiosity.”

Frankie raised an eyebrow at the carelessness of the old lady, who now laughed as if her story was the most normal thing in the world.

“Then it was just a coincidence,” she said.

“It wasn't,” Clow intervened, very serious. “There is no such thing...”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Madame Foster interrupted him. “Don't start with that again. He says everything has to do with fate and who knows what else,” she added, turning to her granddaughter.

“Ah, but it makes sense. You have to admit that we're very similar,” he said, grinning like a kid. “Besides, there was something that only I could give to Foster's.”

“What's that?” asked Frankie, more confused by the second.

“Know-how,” her grandmother replied. “What else? Just look at all the friends who live here.”

“Exactly,” Clow said, nodding. “It's been a long time since I live with magical beings... well, _imaginary_ beings, you'd say in your dimension. I thought Martha could use a bit of advice. I always liked her idea. I think it's a very noble thing to do.”

Now he was stroking Cerberus's head and smiling fondly. Frankie didn't have the slightest doubt that he was telling the truth. It was easy to see that he truly loved his friends very much. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that he and her grandmother were very similar indeed. In any case, they were both quite crazy.

At last it was time to return. Madame Foster and her granddaughter said goodbye and walked through the portal again.

“What a strange guy, huh?” Frankie said when they were alone. “But he's very nice. I can tell that he really cares about his friends.”

“More than anyone I know,” her grandmother replied, now a little thoughtful. “I'll tell you a secret... They don't know it yet, but Clow told me that he's preparing things to make sure that the Guardians and Cards get a good home after he dies. They don't have a Foster's Home there.”

That was very sweet of him, Frankie thought. But then she realized something that she'd never paid attention to before.

“Er... Gran?” she asked softly. “What's going to happen to Mr. Herriman when...? Well... you know...”

“Bah, I don't have to worry about those things,” Madame Foster said as she walked away. “I have a granddaughter, right?”

Frankie stood where she was until she finished processing that information.

“He is my heirloom?” she exclaimed at last.

Her grandmother's cackling was the only answer.


End file.
